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Many wondered if the Dolphins would use one of their many 2020 draft picks to land a home run hitter in the backfield. Well, they did, but not in the sense we’d expected. Chris Grier acquired Matt Breida from San Francisco with a fifth-round pick, giving the Dolphins the playmaker they’d been looking for. It wasn’t the sexiest of moves, but in Breida, Miami is getting a player who is NFL ready (not to be taken for granted this year, with rookies getting little preseason acclamation to the speed of the league) and is capable of filling almost any role he’s asked. In three seasons, Breida has totaled 381 rushes for 1902 yards and 6 TDs, along with 67 catches on 89 targets for 561 yards and 4 TDs. He started 13 games for the Niners in 2018, amassing 814 yards on 153 attempts (5.3 ypc) for 3 TDs and 27 catches for 261 and 2 TDs. His top end speed with the ball in his hands is also well known, having reached 22.09 mph in 2018 and hitting 22.30 mph on an 83-yard TD run against Cleveland last season. Both marks were the fastest of the season.
As the lightning to Jordan Howard’s thunder, what can we expect from Breida this season? The over/under figures for Breida are: 125 carries, 650 yards, 2.5 rushing touchdowns; 25 catches, 250 receiving yards, 2.5 receiving touchdowns.